Thong

MORE THAN 35 years ago, dictator Francisco Franco of Spain banned the bikini bathing suit and today - this is 1990 - the governor of Florida banned the thong.But that's not all. While clothing-optional beaches have been established and widely accepted all over Europe, including Spain, European tourists coming to Florida are being treated like criminals because they try to exercise the same kind of freedom they enjoy in their own countries.One would think that in Florida, where the murder rate and the prison population is many times that of Western Europe, the Florida state government would have more important things to do rather than employ Gestapo tactics on its beaches.

Summer winds down, and local television gets a little giddy. How giddy? WESH-Channel 2 anchor Martha Sugalski on Friday afternoon marveled at the stunning view from Daytona Beach in a live shot. Veteran reporter Claire Metz enthusiastically told Sugalski "to throw on a thong" and get to the beach. You don't hear that suggestion too often on local news, but hey, it's Labor Day Weekend. When Metz's report was over, anchor Jim Payne told her, "Thank you for playing the thong-bikini card from Daytona Beach.

CAPE CORAL -- A city councilman who says a bikini-clad hot dog vendor is a public safety hazard is seeking to remove thongs from city streets. Councilman Tim Day wants city attorneys to draft an ordinance prohibiting thong bikinis in the city.

Is this event cool? Or just nutty? Tickets are now available for the second-ever meeting of the Orlando Polar Bear Club at the Gaylord Palms resort on Dec. 5. Swimsuit-clad members zip through the Kissimmee hotel's holiday ICE! exhibit, which is kept at a nippy-by-any-standard 9 degrees. Thankfully, unlike with clubs up north, there's no underwater component. Yet you still might ask "Why?" -- and we might have to scratch our heads too. But at least there's a charity angle: $7 of every full-price ticket ($21.

Summer winds down, and local television gets a little giddy. How giddy? WESH-Channel 2 anchor Martha Sugalski on Friday afternoon marveled at the stunning view from Daytona Beach in a live shot. Veteran reporter Claire Metz enthusiastically told Sugalski "to throw on a thong" and get to the beach. You don't hear that suggestion too often on local news, but hey, it's Labor Day Weekend. When Metz's report was over, anchor Jim Payne told her, "Thank you for playing the thong-bikini card from Daytona Beach.

Women around the world have had enough. They're starting to turn their backsides on the thong, the scanty underwear style that has overtaken departments worldwide. Nationwide chains and department stores have brought in big supplies of hipsters and boy shorts in anticipation of the change. And Mintel, a Chicago market-research firm, reported sales of thongs in the United Kingdom have fallen 14 percent since 2003, to represent 23 percent of the panty market. British women have boosted sales of full-cut "maxi" panties by 36 percent.

You don't think of swingers as being the type of people who hold conventions. By "swingers," I mean couples who swing with other couples. By "swing," I mean, "you know exactly what I mean." But my point is that you think of swingers as hanging out at private parties, or exclusive swinger nightclubs, or secluded motels, or the Clinton White House. Yet it turns out that swingers do hold conventions. I know this because I went to one recently, at the Radisson Deauville hotel in Miami Beach.

It's not often that a new panty style takes over the market. Yet Frederick's of Hollywood, the country's best-known lingerie firm, reports that thong-style panties now account for more than half its panty sales.That's a hefty number, considering that Frederick's sells millions of panties each year through its 175-store chain and its mail-order catalog. But then, the bikini panty seemed revolutionary in the 1950s when the whole world wore nothing but full briefs.A thong panty has a rear band instead of full coverage in back.

Let me see that thong, baby, that thong, th-thong-thong thong... It's not quite this year's ``La Vida Loca,'' but Sisqo's ``Thong Song'' is all over the place, gently directing our attention to that most insubstantial of undergarments, the thong, and the body parts it doesn't quite cover.

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. -- Police charged two men Saturday with the bludgeoning deaths of a woman and her two daughters in their home. Ngan Tran, 27, and Thong Le, 19, both of Biloxi, Miss., were charged with three counts of murder, Sheriff Mike Byrd said. Autopsy results showed the woman and her daughters died of blows to the head.

These are trying times for Jason Giambi -- apparently not even lucky underwear can help his undersized batting average. The New York Yankees' first baseman caused a bit of a stir Saturday when the Daily News reported -- on the front page, no less -- that he often wears a gold thong under his uniform pants when trying to snap out of a slump. "I was blown away," Yankees broadcaster and former big league pitcher David Cone said with a smile. "You've got to be pretty confident in yourself to let that one out."

Q: Pardon the grossness, but I can't think of a delicate way to put this. When I wear skirts in the summer, my legs sweat and my inner thighs get chafed from rubbing together. I've tried powder, but it doesn't last through the day. Any suggestions? A: Two products designed to keep skin dry and provide relief from chafing may help solve your problem. Monistat's Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel dries to a silky, protective finish. It is available at most drug stores. And Dri-off Gel from Hill Dermaceuticals is formulated to prevent wetness and consequent chafing.

This spring, casual fashions for men and boys are as laid-back as a picnic in the park, as relaxed as a weekend in the country. Cut comfortably loose, shorts are on the long side and often detailed with cargo pockets. Jeans and khakis come in a wide range of styles, shades and finishes. And shirts are designed to be worn untucked. The colors are inspired by nature -- sky blues, earthy browns and greens, and the reds and oranges of the tropics. Stripes are a major motif on shirts, and plaids on shorts.

By David Brooks, the New York Times and Rosa Brooks, Special to the Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2006

It's been a good week for the media, and a bad week for parents. The arrest of former schoolteacher John Mark Karr in the slaying of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey launched a flurry of excited stories about pedophiles, child abduction and murder. The cable news stations could hardly hide their glee, and even the New York Times joined in. In a two-part series on pedophilia, the newspaper reported that many pedophiles now use Internet support groups to swap how-to tips on getting jobs as camp counselors and teachers.

Miami Vice, the movie, debuts today. But don't expect a revolution in men's fashion to follow, as it did with the original TV show on NBC. When Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) teamed his white suits with pastel T-shirts and sockless espadrilles in TV's Miami Vice in 1984, he introduced American men to the concept of casual/chic dressing. The double-breasted suits that Rico Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) wore with dark shirts, pastel ties and baby-blue shoes were equally iconic. The movie-version detectives, played by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, wear darker, sloppier clothes -- cool, but not radical.

Spring has arrived. Earth Day is just a week away. It's time to switch from closed shoes to sandals. For women, this is a no-brainer. For many men, it's a major headache. Which sandal styles to choose? Where and when to wear them? With what clothing? To bring guys up to speed, we present Sandals 101, featuring footwear available at online discount retailer Grapevinehill.com. THE THONG No, not that thong. We're talking a sandal with a single strap that fits between the big and second toe. The rubber flip-flop is the most common version.

Q: Pardon the grossness, but I can't think of a delicate way to put this. When I wear skirts in the summer, my legs sweat and my inner thighs get chafed from rubbing together. I've tried powder, but it doesn't last through the day. Any suggestions? A: Two products designed to keep skin dry and provide relief from chafing may help solve your problem. Monistat's Soothing Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel dries to a silky, protective finish. It is available at most drug stores. And Dri-off Gel from Hill Dermaceuticals is formulated to prevent wetness and consequent chafing.

WHERE IS OUR state government headed? Time, energy and taxpayers' dollars have been spent to pass stricter rules banning ''thong'' bikinis from state parks, when not enough time, energy and most important, research was devoted to the issue of workers' compensation insurance. The current regulations could devastate one of Florida's largest industries, construction.Why do our elected officials not aim their priorities in directions that would truly benefit the people of the state of Florida?

So, former Navy officer and "disciplined pacifist" Joseph W. DuRocher is turning in his aviator's wings to President Bush in protest of our battle in Iraq. Saddam Hussein murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children, fed human beings into plastic shredders, sent an assassination squad to murder a U.S. president, provided safe haven for two of the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, allowed an al-Qaeda lieutenant to run terror cells directly from Baghdad a full year before our military operations began there, provided funding to an al-Qaeda terror group in Uganda, and funded the butchery of Hamas, Hezbollah and Ansar al-Islam for years.

Women around the world have had enough. They're starting to turn their backsides on the thong, the scanty underwear style that has overtaken departments worldwide. Nationwide chains and department stores have brought in big supplies of hipsters and boy shorts in anticipation of the change. And Mintel, a Chicago market-research firm, reported sales of thongs in the United Kingdom have fallen 14 percent since 2003, to represent 23 percent of the panty market. British women have boosted sales of full-cut "maxi" panties by 36 percent.